While their band name first brought non-threatening boy-band music to my mind, this first impression about Brooklyn outfit B Boys could not be more misleading. No Worry No Mind opens with the explosive “Seagulls”, laced with inexorable guitar sound and insistent kit work to match. This lo-fi punk sound continues more or less throughout. The group are not ones to shy away from kicking off a song with simple, driving guitar work and building up from there. By the time we hit the first single, “Get a Grip”, we’ve become wise to this trick, and what results is a slight lack of interest from the listener’s point of view.

What certainly is pleasing about this release, however, is the level of attention the group show in drawing from classic punk sounds. The wildly charismatic vocals, sudden textual shifts, snappy song lengths and driving grooves across the board all show an appreciation for punk’s glory days. This EP promises to satisfy those who have kept their Bad Brains t-shirts from the 1980s and still yell “Hey ho, let’s go” whenever leaving their house. If you aren’t in this category, this one may take a few listens to grow on you. Although this isn’t to say that No Worry No Mind is totally inaccessible for non-punk fans. The less bombastic “Other Head”, another of the singles from the EP, is perhaps more approachable for a wider audience. The grit is still there on this track, however, ensuring B Boys never desert the warts-and-all sound that they cherish so dearly. (popmatters.com)

The Retinas have been making music for nearly five years now, steadily putting out waves of shoe-gazy, post-garage, indie rock. Their latest project, chaba, drops tomorrow. The guys will be doing a house show to celebrate the release.

We spoke with frontman Tom McHugh about life in the band.

Congrats on the new EP. Can you tell us about it?

Thank you! We’re very excited about the new chaba EP.

The EP’s title comes from the first letter of each song. We were trying to figure out a title of for the EP and nothing seemed to fit. It got to a point where we were joking around with ridiculous titles and thought of the idea of taking the first letter and making it a name. After a few variations we decided on chaba – “Cheesepuffs,” “Hey Julia,” “Accident,” “Beat It Out” and “Aries”).

The EP is a bit more lo-fi then our last one. We wanted to try and break out of a normal formula and start doing the opposite of what we would typically do musically. Half the songs were recorded in an abandoned post office in Manayunk and the other were recorded in our rehearsal space in Kensington.

We knew we wanted the “Accident” video to be dark and unsettling. The song itself is dark and we thought the video should follow that.

The plot points at how as conversations/relationships/love/friendships grow, they become interrogation rooms. In those rooms, you see the people as they are/what you know about them, and at the same time you have flashes of your own subconscious and nostalgia running that affect their perception, as well as the ideal perception of you want to have of them.

Among all of this you’re also learning their vices and twitches and flaws and anything else below the surface. The reason we say interrogation room is because the entire time your building the relationship, your acceptance of the worst parts about them are on trial and whether you choose to continue the relationship or to love this person is based on the darker aspects of them and whether they can be apart of your life.

You don’t truly choose or love someone for only the good things. It’s the bad things that make or break and define it.

You guys have been around for a few years now, right? How has the band evolved over the past five years?

The bands changed in a lot of ways over the last couple of years. For one, members have changed. Anthony Fulginitti (drummer) and I (singer/guitarist) are the only original members of the band left.

Musically, I think we’re transitioning out of loving our favorite bands and trying to be like them (i.e. Life At Work EP) into developing our own style. We’re not as afraid to explore different genres or write a slower song like we were before because we’re trying to doing something new and that hasn’t been done before. Or, at least, relate to people on our own level as opposed to a revivalist stand point.

You guys have been steadily hustling. What’s the goal for the project?

I guess the goal is to do something new and relate to a larger body of people while doing so. (jumpphilly.com)

Close to the Ocean‘s cover art has someone facing the window of a boat, looking in contemplation at a vast body of water. Its first song is the musical version of that scene, with David Skirving singing of waiting for something good to happen, leading to the chorus, “We can go straight to the edge of the ocean / see it all begin again.” California Snow Story itself has gone through changes since its birth in 2002, in terms of membership—the brainchild of former Camera Obscura member Skirving, its current lead vocalists are Sandra Belda Martinez and Skirving himself. The musical style of Close to the Ocean, the band’s first album, is similar to that of their true debut, the 2002 EP One Good Summer, though perhaps more introspective; both recordings put melody and harmony on display, but here they’re always turned somewhat inward. That emphasis fits with the broader musical palette that the expanded format of an album lets seep in—in particular, there’s an almost bossa nova feeling to many of the songs, giving them that classic combination of melancholy and escape. This may resemble a vacation, but one where you spend much of it in your own head: you let the sun and breeze hit your face, but your mind is somewhere else. (Dave Heaton)

dilluns, 6 de juny de 2016

Jazzy mod Britpop is a genre that pops every now and then, with The Small Faces and The Style Council as the most familiar names. French musician Popincourttaps into the same source with his first full-length A New Dimension To Modern Love, an album that has written "happy sounding Summer holiday songs" all over it. Like most Frenchmen Popincourt has trouble properly pronouncing the "W" and the "S" in English, but it only adds to the charm of his songs. Plenty of radio-friendly tunes sit alongside more adventurous tracks.

The lead single I Found Out, the old school French pop songs The First Flower Of Spring and Happy Town, and the lazy lounge title track with Sixties inspired backing vocals- the latter two with the inevitable trumpet dropping by - will appeal to the latte loving crowd. The short instrumentals Improvisation / Part 1 and Part 2are mere interludes to appease to the musically adept listeners, who will dig the use of vintage keyboards. A New Dimension To Modern Love is an unashamedly mainstream album. Pop, jazz and a hint of blue-eyed soul all get their turn in the spotlights. popincourtmusic.com

Indie pop institution Jigsaw Records' new signing Blue Jeans release their debut album "Songs are Easy" on May 13th. Is this something you should care about? Here are the facts to help you decide:

Blue Jeans used to be Santa Monica Swim and Dive Club. Under that name they released an EP called Mild Honey on Little Pocket Records, a split single on Oddbox, and played to the indie pop faithful at the 2010 NYC Popfest. They got tired of explaining the name, hence the switch.

Blue Jeans are Tim Sendra on vocals and guitar, Heather Phares on vocals and bass, with help from David Serra on drums and Justin Dykehouse on synths. Tim used to be in the band Veronica Lake back in the early '90s, in case you care about stuff like that.

Songs are Easy was produced, engineered and generally made better by Fred Thomas of Saturday Looks Good to Me, City Center and Fred Thomas. He got the sounds down, tweaked them into poppy weirdness, and played all the cool guitar parts. He sang a bunch and worked some serious keyboard magic too.

Songs are Easy was mastered by indie pop legend Archie Moore of Black Tambourine and Velocity Girl. He took some time off from winning Emmys to give the songs some warmth and depth. Also, some shine and glow.

Blue Jeans highly endorse and steal heavily from the following bands at every convenience: (in chronological order)

CLOAKZ is the brain child of Zachary Ciancaglini. The multi-instrumentalist relocated to Philadelphia and quickly put together his first batch of songs. "Semi-Autographic" is a testament to Ciancaglini's garagey/pop/rock nature. South Jersey native gone Brooklyn/Philly transplant, CLOAKZ is Ciancaglini's transformation away from the drums and exposing himself as a songwriter.

In May 2012, Sightlines released their debut, Summer EP. Since then there has been a steady stream of one-off releases from the band on gloriously antiquated formats – including a floppy-disc single and a split 7” with Crystal Swells – but no talk of anything with a runtime over 3 minutes from the Vancouver pop-punkers… until now.

Lead singer and songwriter Eric Axen has surpassed himself on Sightlines’ newest release, which clocks in at a career-defying 26 minutes and 52 seconds and offers fans 9 brand new tracks to delight over, plus revised versions of “Commiseration” and “Foreknowledge” from the acclaimed Crystal Swells split.

North was released on April 15th on 150g random green 12″ vinyl, in a co-release between Axen’s own Alarum Records and up-and-coming label Big Smoke. The record will be supported by a busy summer show schedule, including a recently completed loop of western Canada and the bands first tour in over a year.(northerhtransmissions.com)